While the Treaty now has Royal Assent, the ratification process will not be complete until the relevant legal documents are deposited in Rome and this will take several weeks – so the Government was happy to comply with the judge's request.

But that phrase "until judgement" could prove tricky.

If the Court finds for Mr Wheeler, the Government will presumably take the case to the Court of Appeal, a process that could drag on for months. And if the Appeal Court were to confirm the judgement, the House of Lords would surely beckon – and that would take many more months before a final "judgement" is reached.

Exactly the same would be true if the decision goes the other way and the spread-betting millionaire chooses to appeal against a negative ruling - he hinted last week that he would consider such a move.

In other words, this case could drag on for months, even years, before a final resolution.

That would keep the Lisbon Treaty in a state of suspended animation until perilously close to the next general election. Mr Brown's breezy promise to his fellow EU leaders last week that the UK would press ahead with ratification regardless of the Irish veto may not be quite as straightforward as he thought.